By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PICAYUNE — Both of the top seeds in the Region 4-6A Tournament, the Pascagoula boys and the Hancock girls, continued their respective quests for Class 6A State championships Tuesday afternoon here at Kelly Wise Gym.
Each earned byes in the opening round after unbeaten league sheets in the regular season, and both began the postseason with impressive wins in semifinal round play as Hancock thumped Long Beach 58-16 and Pascagoula dispatched the Hancock boys 58-41..
In the first game of the day, Hancock wasted no time in jumping out to a quick lead as Cambria Necaise drained a pair of 3-pointers while Brooklyn Cuevas and Talana Bond each added a trey of their own all in the opening three minutes of the contest and before the popcorn was ready the Lady Hawks had a 12-3 lead.
AmBrieal Smth dropped in a pair of baskets in the frame as well, and Hancock was in full control at 18-3 entering the second stanza and cruised to their 27th win on the season.

Cuevas tallied a game-high 16 points for the Lady Hawks, including a trio of treys in the third frame, while Necaise chipped in 10 points to the winning effort and Bond added eight points.
The win this year left a better taste in the mouth of the Lady Hawks after they went 27-1 in the regular season last year but dropped two straight games in the Region 8-6A Tournament and missed the playoffs. Hancock again stands 27-1 after its latest win.
“Solid start in the postseason by our team,” veteran Hancock head coach Jamie Sisco said. “Defensively we were aggressive and turned turnovers into points. Now we have to regroup and get ready for Friday.”
Shania Hope scored 13 of Long Beach’s 16 points, including that lone 3-pointer in the first period as well as all three of the Lady Bearcats’ points in the second period.

The second game of the day was the first boys’ semifinal clash, as powerful Pascagoula extended its school-record win streak to 26 games with the 24-point point win over the Hawks.
The Panthers moved to 26-1 overall with the win, while Hancock fell back to 14-16. The Hawks mauled George County on Monday in the opening round 60-33.

Pascagoula led throughout the game, but the Hawks stayed close for most of the first half as the Panthers took a 15-11 lead into the second period and were up 30-22 at halftime.

Pascagoula’s sharp-shooting senior standout Dorian McMillan made sure the lead stayed with the Panthers in the second half, as he nailed a trio of 3-pointers in the third frame and finished up with 13 of Pascagoula’s 14 points in the period and the Panthers had their first double digit lead at 44-32 entering the final frame.

McMillan poured in a game-high 22 points to pace Pascagoula, while Kelan Rich chipped in 11 points to the winning cause and Markeuse Grady added nine points.

Mike Washington had 14 points to lead the Hawks, while Todd Dedeaux had seven points.

Winners from the semifinal round advance on to Friday’s title tilts, while the losing teams are back in action on Thursday night playing for third seeds.
Also, the winners of the semifinal round games clinched home playoff games in the opening round of the state playoffs, while the teams playing in consolation contests on Thursday automatically hit the road to start the playoffs.
The Pascagoula boys are a consensus number one team currently in the state and stand 26-1 with a 26-game win streak. The Hancock girls are 27-1, and have won 54 out of their last 58 games.